Separator for separating manganese dioxid from ores containing the same.



- L. E SOWERS-& P. S. PHILLIPS, I SEPARATOR FOR SEPARATING MANGANESE DIOXID FROM ORES CONTAINING mE SAME- APPUCATION FILED OCT. 30. 1917.

1,277,145. I PatentedAhgQY, 191s.

' l/VVEWffl/TS 4.5 saw/Ens P- s PHILLIP! v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

LEROY E. SOWERS AND PRESTON S. PHILLIPS, F LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA.

snraaa'mn. roa saram'rme MANGANESE moxm raom cans CONTAINING ma same. 7 a

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that we, LEROY E. Sowsas and Panama: S. PHILLIPS, citizens of the United States, and residing in the town of Liver-more, in the countv of Alameda, in the State of California,-have invented new and useful'l'mprovements in Separators for Separating Manganese Dioxid from .Ores

, Cgntai ningthe Same, of which the followproved Referring to the drawingy 1 indicates a ing is a specification.

he ob]ect,of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for separat- .mg dioxid of manganese from other manganese compounds flDd'SlllCll. 1n ores or other mixtures containing the same.

In the accompanying drawing, the figure is a vertical longitudinal section of our imapparatus.

vertically extending v separating chamber having-a flaring or conical upperportion or f -mouth 2. .Surroundingl'said upper portion, -and attached to its edge, is a circular trough '3, from which leads a discharge conduit 4; Secured to the upper edge'uof said portion 2 --are the lower ends of arms 6 which extend f inwardly and are connected to a central cir- Thereby rotation is imparted to the shaft l2 and also to an agitating screw 17 on said shaft in said separating chamber and to agitator arms 18 extending from said shaft in said upper portion 2.

Water is supplied to said separating chamber by an inlet pipe 19 controlled by -a valve 21, and flows upwardly in said separating chamber. It is given a' rotary motion by said agitating screw 17 and arms 18. Pulverized ore containing silica and manganese compounds including diox'id is fed intoa hopper or chute22 and drops upon the upper portion of a distributing cone 23 which is attached to the lower end of the ,continually flowing into the trou '8. j l Although such masses of dioxld offinan- I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug 27, 1918, Application filed October 80, 1917. Scrla11i'o. 198,265. i 4

tubular hanger 8, and the position of which sink therein, while the dioxid of manganese with included ail-floats on the surface of the water and is carried thereby to the outer edge of the conical upper portion 2 of the separating chamber, and is eventuall floatcd from the same with the Water w ich i ganese with included air are considerably ighter than water, ithas not been -found possible heretofore to separate them fromi substances heavier than water, such as'other v i uumganese compounds and silica, by ordi-T'p nary nu-thods which take advantage of the difference in the specific vities of 'such materials for the reasonat, if the dioxid of manganese is not quickly separated, it loses its included air, becomes completely saturated or soaked with water, and its specific gravity is then greater than that of water. In our improved process we rapidly separate the manganese dioxid before .it has H time to be thus saturated or soaked with water, and tbiswe do by'imparting a ro-' ta ry motion to the water, which then quickly carries the light material outward by contrifugal force. I

,The other manganesecompounds and silica sink to the bottom of the separating chamber and escape, therefrom by an upwardly extending tube 24 leading from a side of the separating chamber near the bottom and, said manganese compounds and silica being very heavy, their ascent in said tube 24 is facilitated by a jet of water under high pressure injected into said tube a 2-! through a narrow tube 26 entering. the bottom of said tube 24.

Va claim:

In an apparatus for separating the constituents of ore, the combination of a separating chamber symmetrical with respect to a central axis and having a flaring upper por- 9n open at the top, a. trough closely surundmg the rim of said upper portion, a distributing cone centrally located in the I 1' ortion of said chamber endde ndits rim. means for dischargin dry, pulverized ore on to said distributing cone uniformly around its axis, and means for ciiusing water to flow upwardly in said 10 separating chamber with substantial uniformity on all sides of its central axis.

v LEROY E. SOWERS. PRESTON S. PHILLIPS. 

